Surgery in primary gastric lymphoma: impact on clinical staging and long-term survival

This study analyzes the value of surgery in the treatment, staging and long-term survival of 17 patients affected with primary gastric lymphoma. In 7 patients the neoplasm was localized to the lower third of the stomach, in three to the middle third, in two to the upper third, while in 5 patients there was involvement of the entire stomach. Patients were classified according to the Ann-Arbor classification. Nine patients were stage Ie, five stage Ile, and three stage IVe. A partial gastrectomy was carried out in ten patients and total gastrectomy in 7. In all cases surgical excision of the gastric lymphoma was performed together with intraoperative staging including bilateral hepatic biopsies, and exploration of all abdominal lymph nodes. Two postoperative deaths occurred among the 7 patients who underwent total gastrectomy but no major complications were observed in the remaining 5 patients. No deaths occurred among the 10 patients who underwent partial gastrectomy, but in one case an acute complication developed. Staging laparotomy permitted the correction of clinical staging, and showed that three cases were understaged and one overstaged. All patients received adjuvant chemio-radiotherapy. All but one patient are currently alive, well and free of disease. Survival was correlated significantly with the stage of the disease and extent of gastric involvement, but there was no correlation between survival, histological grade, and the type of gastrectomy performed.